Lost and Found (Growing Pains #1)(25)

“Okay, everyone.”

The tone change dragged Krista’s eyes upwards.

The transformation nearly took Krista’s breath away. Sean stood in the middle of the room, straight and broad, owning his body and the space around it. He seemed taller, somehow; superior. He was radiating authority as he moved, drawing eyes to him as though they were attached to a fishing lure and being reeled in.

With the last swing of his shoulders, he planted his feet in a power position and faced his staff. Without being able to help it, unable to ignore the swelling of her groin and the desperation to be touched, Krista’s eyes raked down his body. Wanting him inside her. Wanting to surrender to him so badly she broke out in a sweat.

It was at that moment Sean’s eyes swiveled to her, taking in the last of his troops before giving direction. When his eyes connected with hers, he hesitated for a brief second, his eyes widening ever so slightly. He couldn’t pause long, though, with all eyes on him.

“Let’s all gather near Krista,” he said waveringly, his voice wistful, lacking the control his body showed. His brow knit in confusion for a brief second before he tore his eyes away from hers.

“On that desk,” his voice got stronger, calmly commanding. “Please have everything organized and squared away. I’ll bring them in. Yes?”

Seeing that they would all comply, Sean and the other salesman left to receive the clients.

Krista made herself small, huddled against the wall, as the three other team members headed her way. The first to reach her was a middle-aged woman with long, graying hair. She had large, red glasses and a frumpy brown suit. Krista couldn’t help but stare at her shoes, which were those plain, glossy black tennis shoes that nurses wore. Why she thought those shoes, worn with a suit, still classified her outfit as business attire Krista did not know, but this woman did not seem to care about it in the slightest. She swung four loose poster boards, covered in font and graphics, onto the desk.

Next came her sister-at-arms, the other marketing person. She was also middle-aged, also had a frumpy suit, but was at least wearing something resembling proper shoes. They were open-toed, though. Through the hole poked out a large, unpainted, yellowing toenail. Krista shuddered, looking up immediately.

Finally came a well-groomed guy in a feminine suit. He was possibly in his late thirties, but he was Filipino, so he could have been 100 for all his perfect skin would show it. He had a laptop so Krista figured he would demonstrate the art mock-ups she had seen in Sean’s office.

And there they were, a rag-tag team of four, each completely different from the other, except for the Ronald McDonald sisters. The only thing that made them better than Research was that they didn’t stink.

“He is so cute, isn’t he?” The man was saying, turning on his computer.

“Yes!” the lady with giant red glasses said. Her glasses actually matched the suit of the other frumpy marketing person. “All the girls rave about him! He is a little too young for me, though. He could be my son!” She laughed in a high-pitched twitter that crawled under Krista’s skin and laid eggs.

“I heard he was dating a girl from Development. Apparently he is a wonder in the sack,” the man said conspiratorially.

“Oh, Roger, stop it!” said Glasses.

“I heard the same thing.” This from Red Suit. She fanned herself with an open mouth, apparently trying to feign some sort of sexy pose with her hip stuck out and her chest popped up. It was gross.

Normally Krista wouldn’t be so detail-orientated in her judgments, but this was a presentation. Could they not pull out, or buy, a better suit? Did the guy, whose suit was professional, even though it was made for women, need to wear bright pink loafers? Where did he even find bright pink loafers?

It occurred to her that Dell must have taken all the best, most experienced employees, leaving the rag-tag team for this account. She wondered again why Sean was mixed up in it. He would’ve been better hitting heavy with the big boys. Surely they wanted their best salesman to close the deal with a big account?

The gossip was interrupted by loud guffaws. Sean was leading in the clients.

They were all white, middle-aged men with big stomachs and balding heads. Sean led them, still laughing, to seats around the oblong table. They sat and stowed their briefcases before they looked up and glanced at the crew in the corner. Krista got another flutter of nervousness.

Oh God, I should have peed before I came up here.

The two marketing ladies and the guy seemed bored with the proceedings. They barely looked at the clients. Instead, they murmured to each other and fiddled with their props. But then, they didn’t have to use el bano. Nervous pee was seriously the worst. Besides peeing one’s pants, obviously.

From a seat at the end of the table, Sean started talking about a new approach he was working on that would reach a younger audience. Words didn’t matter. Sean was spellbinding. His charisma lit up the room, drawing all eyes to him as he outlined the company’s plan. The clients were focused, nodding, agreeing with him on all points.

When he was done dazzling his audience, Sean introduced the first creative person, who was to lead off the campaign. As Glasses made her slow way to the presentation area, Sean jumped up to help her with her images, talking with the clients about a new spin on graphics. The other salesman sat down one seat away from a client sporting a fantastic comb-over, letting Sean work his magic. He certainly didn’t need any help.